"Twist it, forge it, cut it and do different things with it to make stock to make rings, Ploof said.

Craftsmen make about two billets a day, which is enough material for eight rings.

The process was invented in the 17th century by Japanese sword maker Denbei Shoami but lost until students at the University of Carbondale in Illinois decided to recreate it in the 1970s.

It takes five or six days to prepare the metal and then a single day to make a ring, Ploof said.

It is a meticulous, quality-driven process, he said.

The company won two industry-leader awards in the last year.

"That just means scientifically we're at the top of our game,' Ploof said. "We're science geeks.

SENTINEL & ENTERPRISE / BRETT CRAWFORD
"Technically, I enjoy the challenge of Damascus and mokume gane, but I like the meteorite," said Chris Ploof, owner of Chris Ploof Designs in North Leominster.

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He loves working with the meteorite in making rings.

"Technically, I enjoy the challenge of Damascus and mokume gane, but I like the meteorite," Ploof said.

The meteorite metal is 4.5 billion years old, which makes it even older than diamonds.

"There is something about wearing jewelry that is 4.5 billion years old," he said.

Ploof was a historical blacksmith and worked in the bicycle industry before turning to ringmaking.

He started his ringmaking career by attending the Worcester Center for Crafts, but dropped out after a year to start a formal apprenticeship with Rosenblum Goldsmiths in Worcester.

He sought out mokume gane craftsmen and took a couple of week-long courses.

SENTINEL & ENTERPRISE / BRETT CRAWFORD
A display of rings made with Damascus steel, designed and crafted by Chris Ploof Designs in North Leominster.

Most of his ring making skill is self-taught, Ploof said.

He started making rings in the mid 1990s and opened his company about 11 years ago.

Ploof bought out Andrew Nyce's business in Portland, Maine last year and is now the largest creator of mokume gane jewelry.

"The people who do this well, you can count on one hand," Ploof said.

Ploof is shorthanded right now but has about four full-time employees, including his wife, Ann Cahoon.

It takes years for new employees to learn the art.

Emily Secoy joined the company as a craftsman a couple months ago just as it was relocating from Rhode Island.

She is a graduate of Maine College of Art.

She expected Ploof to laugh but said her favorite part of ringmaking is the finish work.

"I love finishing," she said. "It's a piece of jewelry but it's pretty raw when I get it so to make it ready for a showcase is pretty rewarding, I think."

Ann Cahoon is a goldsmith and designer who has her own business hosting wedding-ring workshops, he said. Students learn how to make their own wedding bands in a one-day class using traditional metals such as gold.

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